Purpose: I would like to remind all managers of the Montana/Dakotas Heavy Equipment Committee’s role in managing heavy equipment.

The BLM State Heavy Equipment Committees were established as a result of the WO and NBC recommendations, and chartered by State Directors. Our Montana/Dakotas Heavy Equipment Committee is responsible for promoting efficient and cost-effective use of all heavy equipment within the Montana/Dakotas.

The Committee is responsible for reviewing and providing recommendations to the State Director for all requests for new heavy equipment purchases, replacements, and class changes. They also review and recommend policy and guidance related to equipment life-cycle issues including replacement schedules, repair costs, equipment standardization, equipment operator safety and utilization.

Policy/Action: An equipment purchase or replacement approval process has been formally instituted. The completed heavy equipment analysis shall be submitted to the Committee for review and comments. The Committee’s comments will be combined with the analysis into a proposal and submitted to the field manager for consideration. This proposal, with the field manager’s recommendation, will require concurrence by the appropriate Deputy State Director for funding commitments and then approved, or disapproved, by the Associate State Director.

Attachment 1 is a copy of the Montana/Dakotas Heavy Equipment Committee Charter describing the Committee’s roles and responsibilities.

Timeframe: Effective upon receipt.

Budget Impact: When considering equipment purchases or replacements, every field office must prepare an analysis weighing the options of contracting the work, versus leasing or purchasing the heavy equipment. Issues to consider include the work to be performed by the equipment and long-term projections for future use of the equipment. The Committee is available to assist in providing guidance to users preparing heavy equipment analysis.

Background: We need to maintain a viable and cost-effective program utilizing our heavy equipment and the force account workforce. The use standards articulated in the Fleet Management Handbook (G-1520-3) states, “Equipment in the moderate use category is 240 hours of use per year and equipment in the high use category is 360 hours of use per year. This is prescribed as justifying retention, where commercial facilities exist for rental or lease of similar units.”

Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: None

Coordination: The revised Montana/Dakotas Heavy Equipment Committee Charter has been coordinated with administrative officers and the force account leads in each of the zones.

Contact: Please contact Greg Bergum, Supervisory Civil Engineer, at (406) 896-5217, if you have any questions.